“So if a book’s intended for an academic audience, it’s supposed to have prose cluttered with academic jargon?”

No–the Chronicle author understands that “cluttered with academic jargon” is simply what hostile generalists say about any academic book they dislike; “cluttered with academic jargon” means “I didn’t understand it and that couldn’t possibly be my fault.”

Did you really miss the entire culture wars debate on academic obscurity?